The parcel and small package delivery industry has become accustomed to providing a text based proof-of-delivery (POD) service, and in a lesser frequency, a signed POD. Such activities are generally performed with the use of a handheld device equipped with a bar code scanner, where the package identification number is scanned and the consignee name is typed into a parcel delivery record. Sometimes, when the consignee is available and the service provider provides the service, the name of the consignee or a signed POD might be acquired. This type of POD and the use of handheld devices are justified for the sorting, handling and delivery of parcel and small packages, because each route can deliver on the order of tenths or hundreds parcels per route. Hence, the volume justifies the cost of acquiring such POD with such devices and the software that runs on these devices.
For the freight industry, however, such handheld devices are rarely justified since trucks, the most common means of transportation and delivery, usually perform a single stop to delivery a full truck load, or perform a very small number of delivery stops for a Less than a Truck Load (LTL). Therefore, the use of handheld devices in this industry is cost prohibitive and not done. In addition, the 3rd party carriers or independent drivers who perform the task of transporting such loads, and hence do not have such handheld devices, nor have the proper training to operate each particular application running on such devices.
The way truck drivers and delivery personnel who delivery loads send the POD to their dispatching areas and customers is generally by two ways.
In the first way, the delivery person calls the dispatching center and verbally reports the date and time of the delivery. The problem with this method is that the verbal report is not typically recorded and is subject to incompleteness, inaccuracies, lateness and/or volatility
Alternatively, the delivery person acquires signed the Bill of Lading (BOL) documentation, by the consignee, and returns the BOL by regular mail or small package delivery services back to the shipper. The problem with this method of providing POD is the amount of time required to return the signed BOL to the shipper, plus the expense to do so. This time delay causes long delays to invoice customers and longer delays to collect payment. Other problems include lack of visibility and lack of information to provide customers on the where about of their freight which translates in multiple calls into the shipper's and broker's customer service, costing them hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.
Problems facing the logistics and distribution industries include (1) need to track shipments and provide accurate and reliable POD; (2) lack of visibility of shipments; (3) high costs to track load status; (4) long times to invoice and collect monies; and (5) high costs on customer services (6) high cost to maintain a network of handheld devices as well as the proper versions of the software applications running on them